The 74th Annual Hunger Games
by Kelcviki
Summary: Cato only ever loved one person, and when she was chosen as tribute for the Hunger Games he knew exactly what he had to do.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I will preface this saying that it is my first HG fic. I will forever be shipping Clato. This is going to be a semi short fic, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I am going to keep this story as close to the books as possible, well what we know that happens in the book the rest is my imagination. I owe these wonderful characters to the amazing Suzanne Collins. Also, this is in Cato's perspective. Thank you for reading, Love!

* * *

><p>The morning of the reaping I was almost physically ill the morning of the Reaping. I was excited of course to have the chance to represent my District, but the people who have no chance, if I was chosen I would have to kill someone I know. With all the glory that will come from winning the Hunger Games, it would be worth it.<p>

Becoming a tribute was what I had been training most of my life for. Technically it wasn't allowed, but technically no one in District 2 cared. I am only sixteen so I still have time to honor my District by winning, but this year just feels like a good year.

I had to get ready quickly because I woke up late. I didn't put on any fancy clothes, just khaki slacks and a light blue button down shirt. I didn't have time to go see her but I figured that I would see her after the Reaping. I arrived just in time because five minutes later they started pulling names.

"Clove Furhman," the announcer was so giddy about it, she made me sick. Not her, anyone but her, anyone but my Clove. She wasn't anywhere near as large as the other career girls, she was incredibly lethal but the other tributes would probably be able to overpower her by sheer size. I couldn't let her go, I couldn't live knowing there was a possibility she would never come back.

Keyo Lagriss was chosen as the male tribute for our district. He didn't care about Clove; if he went she would not come back.

"I volunteer!" I shouted out before I fully processed what this meant. Volunteering myself meant that I would never come back, because I would not let her die. Not if I had a choice. I had to protect Clove and if that meant that I had to die doing it, so be it.

The goodbyes were an interesting affair, only my mother and father came to see me off. My mother was in tears, obviously worried about me, and my father was beaming with pride. I could barely look at the two of them knowing that I would never be coming home. I saw Clove when I was getting on the train but she just ignored my presence. The ride to the Capitol will be short for us because we are fairly close but it should be long enough to talk to Clove.

"Clove, will you talk to me?" She was sitting at the table, nursing what looked like an orange juice. I had to give her some credit because she had no show of nerves; she looked like a statue sitting at table.

"Why should I?"

"Let me explain it to you, please."

"No, it's okay. I understand. You needed this glory and killing me doesn't seem to faze you at all."

"No, that is not why I volunteered. I need to make sure that you will be okay; I couldn't stand it if you died. I volunteered so that I will be able to protect you."

"You volunteered to protect me. Does that mean that you are going to do something stupid like risk your life for me?"

"That's the plan."

"Cato, you can't. That is so selfish; I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I was the cause of your death. You are doing this for me you say but did you ever think about how I would feel? I love you and I don't want to live without you."

"I'm sorry Clove, but I will protect you to my dying breath," I reached out and took her hand; she didn't yank away so I thought I was getting somewhere. We sat like that for a while, not looking at each other but holding hands.

"I think we should downplay our relationship when we get to the Capitol."

"Why? People love a dramatic story."

"Because, Cato, I don't want to deal with it. Besides, my parents don't know the extent of our relationship. It will also make the two of us less targets to the other tributes, if they know that they can get you to do anything if it means protecting me they won't stop."

"If that is what you want then fine, I still love you and I will still protect you." We broke hands and she walked away, I didn't see her again until we were at the Capitol.

"Look at it," she said breathlessly, "It's beautiful." She laid up against me, not an act of love but an act of solidarity. From now on it didn't matter how in love we were, we were a team and nothing more. Each district had their own floor that had many rooms, Clove chose her room and I claimed the one next to hers. I was hoping that she would talk to me again. The Hunger Games had not officially begun yet, but for us they had. It was no longer about our relationship and love, it was about surviving, myself surviving long enough to keep Clove alive and Clove surviving long enough so that I would not be able to save her.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I hope that you enjoyed my first chapter! I want to thank you all for reading and some of you who favorite my story. When I see that I get all happy in my belly! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much. Love!

* * *

><p>The Opening Ceremony was for lack of a better word, tense. Clove still refused to talk to me and she stood rigidly at my side. Then everyone was fawning over the District 12 losers who would probably die at the Cornucopia, who cares if they are on fire? Coming back to the Training Center Clove immediately shut herself away in her room. I stripped the costume off and got into the shower to wash all the oil and body glitter that I was forced to wear for the Ceremony.<p>

The next morning we began our training, I was drawn to weight lifting and spear throwing but I also got to try out swordsmanship and I was good at it. I probably should have spread myself over more centers but I wanted to intimidate this bunch of scared kids as much as possible. Today was also the day to start forming alliances with other Districts.

At lunch I pulled Clove aside to talk to her about possible allies.

"The tributes from District 1, District 4, the large tribute from 11 all look promising, anyone else?" I whispered in her ear, I didn't want any other tributes to know about the possible allegiance.

"That sounds good," she said looking up at me. When we stood next to each other it was evident how small she really was, I probably towered a good ten or eleven inches over her. She was slightly muscled but not hugely built I could wrap one of my arms all the way around her. We sat down and started talking with our prospective allies; immediately we knew the tribute from District 11 was out because he wouldn't talk to us. The tribute from Districts 1 and 4 did warm up to the idea of an alliance however and made our group fairly sized.

I tried as hard as I could to impress the Game Makers; I wanted to put fear into all of the other tributes minds. I wanted them to know who they were dealing with. I showed off my skills with the sword, and my strength. I wished I could have known my score right then but at least I would find out later tonight. Instead of just going back down to the District 2 floor I stood outside the door waiting for Clove to be done. I had to wait nearly a half an hour.

"Jeez Clove, were you showing them how slowly you could walk across a room?"

"Ha-ha, you're a comedic genius. I threw a lot of stuff and hit all my targets dead center, rocks, knives, spears, you know the usual stuff. Why are you waiting for me? Shouldn't you be downstairs?"

"I just wanted to see how you did, I stayed out here because you wouldn't be able to ignore me," I said stepping into the elevator.

"I don't want to ignore you; I just don't want to make this whole process more difficult on us. In two days we will be fighting to the death and only one of us can survive. I don't want to make this harder than it has to be. Come on, we need to go now."

Later that evening we were sitting around waiting for the scores to be broadcasted.

"Yes!" I pumped my fist in the air when I saw that I got a 10.

"Congratulations Cato," Clove received a 9 which was still pretty wonderful but I could see she was hoping for more. The rest of the scores were fairly standard except for the fact that the girl from District 12 received an 11. I could not fathom how that happened, she must have tied some impressive knots. This put a target on her back because whoever would take down the girl who got an 11 would be very powerful.

The next morning was all about preparing for our interviews, deciding on what we would say and how we would say it. The most obvious approach for me was to act like a brute, someone who enjoyed killing and couldn't wait to get into the arena. I played the part well and no one could tell that I knew I would be dead before the Games were over. Clove played the part of a fierce girl; she let the entire crowd know through her body language that she was not one to be taken lightly. She was a force to be reckoned with. The rest of the interviews were enjoyable to watch, except the girl with the 11 acted like a giddy schoolgirl. Then the boy confessed his love for her, I couldn't tell if it was a ploy or real but it was a good strategy.

"I told you we should have played the happily in love card, the more people that want us to win the better," I said after the interviews when we were all cleaned up and ready for bed. It would be our last night here together, the last night that I would be able to spend comfortably with the woman I loved.

"I don't care. It doesn't matter now any way," she was sitting with her knees against her chest, her head on her knees, and her arms wrapped around herself, "I'm going to bed." I got up to go to bed myself, but I couldn't sleep. I wandered around for a bit before I found myself outside of Clove's room. I tried her door handle and it was unlocked so I let myself in.

"Clove," I whispered, "Are you awake?"

"I am now," she said groggily, sitting up in her bed, "What are you doing in here?"

"I came to see you, this will be the last time will be able to sleep peacefully. If this is going to be the last night we have without the threat of death looming over us, I want to spend it with you." I heard her audibly sigh.

"Fine, just don't hog the covers. I don't want to be cold," she said scooting over on the bed to make room for me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me; it felt so good to have her in my arms again. We talked shortly about the Capitol and what we liked about it and how much fun it was to tease the people that had surgically implanted cat whiskers. We completely ignored the fact that in less than 24 hours we would be fighting 22 other people and each other to the death.

"Clove, promise me that in the arena you'll remember."

"Remember what Cato?"

"Remember that I love you."

"Yes Cato, I will remember that. Will you remember that you love me? As you willingly walk to your death will you remember what you're doing to me? Will you remember what the price of this is?" Clove sounded so hurt and angry, I felt so bad about doing this to her but it was the only way.

"What happens if we make it to the final two?" Clove asked burying her face in my neck.

"We both know you can beat me in a fight."

"But I won't."

"Then I will have some sort of accident, but if I have a chance you will be the victor." We spent the rest of the night in silence with my lips pressed against one of her temples, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you all for your positivity with this story, it means so much to me! I am sorry I am such an awful person and don't update a lot. Around this point is the part where things start to get a little dodgy as far as knowing what is going on. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Also as some of you may be able to tell, a few of the quotes are directly from the book because, why not? As always all of this belongs to the wonderful Suzanne Collins. Love!

* * *

><p>The wait in the catacombs before entering the area was fairly calm. Sure, I knew that in a few minutes I would be killing a bunch of people that had families depending on them but my family was depending on me. When it was time I stepped up and froze so they could put the tracker in my arm, this was it, it was really happening. I stepped onto the circular platform and was brought up to the arena.<p>

I tried not to move very much so I wouldn't accidentally set off the explosives, but I still managed to look at my surroundings. There was a field with tall grasses off to one side and a dense forest like area off to another. The Cornucopia was near a large lake that could be the only source of water in the entire area, a good place to make camp. I focused on Clove's eyes, I could see how determined she was not to show any fear and I was proud of her for that. Fear wouldn't get her any sponsors.

Before I knew what was happening everyone was running for the Cornucopia, fortunately I had the advantage of being fast so it didn't look like I wasn't paying attention. The first weapon I got my hands on was a sword, this would be too easy. I hacked away left and right, I wasn't even sure that I was making any fatal blows. I realized this was a terrible strategy because I had no clue who I was attacking. I turned back in just enough time to see Clove get a throwing knife right in the back of a male tribute, good for her. I also saw Clove nearly hit the girl with the elven; she was smart though and pulled her backpack up for protection. I decided right then that I was going to kill her, and it would be glorious.

The bloodbath continued and by the end of it eleven tributes were killed. One thing I had not anticipated was Lover Boy trying to join our alliance.

"I will do what I need to do in order to survive," he said, "I may love her, but I need to get back home." I wanted to kill him on the spot. I might not have like the girl from District 12, but if he loved her in the way he said he did, he shouldn't be betraying her.

"Cato, come over here," Clove said pulling me away from the group, "He could be useful to set up a trap for the girl. As soon as he is useless to us you can kill him."

"I would prefer to just do it now and get it over with," I sighed but as soon as I saw the look on her face I melted, "Fine."

"You can join us, but you had better not be useless. Lover boy," Clove spat the last words, oh how much I loved her. She was stronger than any of the other girls here, especially the blonde. What was her name? Sparkle, Shimmer?

"So there's like, some supplies left, should we just set up here?" The blonde girl said looking around at the open area.

"That's a good idea Glimmer, because there is water around but I do think that we should make camp back further in the woods. Just so we aren't right in the open," the girl's district counterpart, Marvel, said. So, the girl's name was Glimmer, Marvel and Glimmer, slightly ridiculous names. We made our way back about ten feet into the forest until everyone deemed it acceptable.

"Clove and I will go back to the Cornucopia and see what's left, we'll also get purify and bring back water for everyone," I said, adjusting the sword in my belt. Clove gave me a look but didn't verbally protest so we went on our way.

"Stop it," she said once we were far enough away from the rest of the group, "Stop trying to throw us together, it isn't going to change how I feel about this."

"There is nothing wrong with me wanting to spend time with you, you know I-"

"Okay, so it looks like there are still weapons left, and there is a lot of food," she said cutting me off. We worked for the next half an hour in almost complete silence, categorizing and taking stock of what was left for us.

"Cato, I am going to go back to camp and getting some other people to help us. We can't take all of this stuff back by ourselves."

"Okay, do you want me to come with you?"

"That's very kind of you, but I should be fine. I'll keep my guard up and I have my knives."

"Stay safe," I said placing my hand on hers, she left her hand under mine for about three seconds longer than she had to before she left. I spent the time she was away writing down what we had so there would be an inventory. Clove brought back the girl from district four and Glimmer to help us bring supplies when I heard a rustle in some bushes nearby. I looked at the girls and put a finger to my lips and carefully unsheathed my sword. I stalked to the bushes and thrust my hand in until I felt something and wrenched whoever it was out of the bushes.

"Please, please don't hurt me. Let me help you!" The boy spluttered, his entire body was shaking and he looked to be on the verge of tears.

"How can you help us?" I growled, seriously considering just slitting his throat then and there.

"I'm from district 3, I work with technology all of the time. I can take the explosives from the starting panels and rewire them, make them active again. You can use them to protect your supplies, so if anyone tries to steal them they'll be blown up," at this point the boy was practically panting in fear.

"Do it and if you fail, I will kill you." He dug up all of the explosives with his hands, until his fingers bled. He carried the inactive explosives back to where we set up camp along with some supplies, everyone else grabbed the rest. The boy from district 3 did quite an effective job and protecting out supplies so I decided to let him live, for now. The sun was starting to set, so everyone got ready for that night. There were three tents so we split up by district, with the boy from district three and the girl from district four sharing. Lover boy decided he would rather not sleep in a tent, but slept about ten feet back from the rest of us.

"Don't kill anyone tonight," Marvel said before shutting himself into his tent. Clove and I had volunteered for the first watch.

"It's getting cold out," Clove said wrapping herself in one of the heat reflecting sleeping bags and sliding herself closer to me, "Body heat," was her explanation. I let her explanation go and wrapped my arm around her.

"Yeah, hey Clove?"

"Yes?"

"Do you see that light coming from way back in the forest?"

"Yeah, it looks like a fire."

"No one would be stupid enough to light a fire at night, we would see them." Our conversation ended as we heard the Anthem play. Seeing the pictures of all the dead people usually left an air of sadness in the districts because of all of the families that had lost people, but in the arena it just meant that there were still people to defeat. A few hours later I woke Lover Boy up so he could take over watch while Clove and I slept.

"There is what looks like a small fire off in the woods, keep an eye on it and if it is still burning in a few hours wake everyone up," I told him before I went to sleep. I climbed into the tent and zipped it closed. There was no camera access in the tent and it was completely private, so I wrapped my arms around Clove and pulled her close.

"What are you doing," she said slightly groggily.

"Body heat," I whispered in her ear, the last sound I heard before I fell asleep was Clove's bright giggle.

"Cato, Clove, wake up," Lover Boy's voice rang out, interrupting a calm dream, "The fire is still going." I shook Clove awake and we exited the tent and everyone else was already awake.

"District 3, you're going to stay here and watch the supplies. The rest of us are going hunting," I said, it was probably too dark to see it, but I am sure there was a hint of a devilish smile on my face. We trekked through the forest; I had picked up a machete from the supplies to cut our way through the thick and possibly dangerous forest.

We came across the girl, no one knew what district she was from, and found that she had fallen asleep.

"Bad move," I whispered as I strode toward her making no effort to be quiet. She woke with a start and cried and pleaded for her life. I made the cut swiftly and quickly so she wouldn't suffer the pain of bleeding out.

"Come over here, let's look to see if she has anything worthwhile," I said not bothering to lower my voice; we could take any of the other tributes on. After about five minutes of searching we realized she had nothing of any value.

"Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking," I said and we all started to walk away.

"Shouldn't we have heard the cannon by now?" The district 1 boy, Marvel, asked.

"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately," his district counterpart agreed.

"Unless she isn't dead," Marvel said.

"She's dead. I stuck her myself," this was starting to get ridiculous. I knew she had to be dead, I don't just miss. This broke out a large argument within the entire group, because Clove jumped to my defense.

"We're wasting time! I'll go finish her and let's move on!" A voice finally shouted, I was shocked to hear that Lover Boy was volunteering to kill the girl.

"Go on then Lover Boy," I said with a snarl, "See for yourself." Once he walked away Clove struck up a quiet conversation with me.

"Why don't we just kill him now and get it over with?"

"Let him tag along. What's the harm? And he's handy with that knife. Besides, he's our best chance of finding her." In the dim light of the left over fire I saw Clove's face twist into a sick smile; I knew that she wanted the chance to finish the girl from district 12 off. We exchanged a bit more conversation until Lover Boy came back.

"Was she dead?"

"No, but she is now, ready to move on?" He asked as the cannon fired. I decided to stop caring if the other tributes died painfully; I refused to be embarrassed like that again. Just as dawn was breaking we ran off, heading back to camp.


End file.
